CHAPTER 11: CONQUER YOUR FEARS
“He answered me and freed me from all my fears."
-------David (Psalm 34:4)
I'm devoting this chapter to the subject of fear because I know from experience how debilitating fear can be. I'm not talking, however, about normal fear. We all have that and it‘s both necessary and desirable. I think that‘s the kind of fear I posed for Deborah, Barabbas‘ wife, in my novel, ”Of Such Is The Kingdom.” If he, on the other hand, would have had more fear, perhaps he wouldn‘t have listened to the stranger. Yet, when asked why he thinks nobody does anything about the Romans and their taxes, Barabbas replies .”The only reason I can think of is fear. We‘re all afraid to say anything.”1
As Dr. Norman Vincent Peale points out, in his book, A Guide To Confident Living,
The line of distinction between normal and abnormal fear is very finely drawn. Before one realizes, he may step across the line into the dark and shadowy regions of abnormal fear.2
So, for the remainder of this chapter, when we speak of "fear," let it be assumed that we are talking about abnormal fear. We could also call it “irrational fear,” because it has been proven that most of the things we fear will happen never do happen. Yet, even though we may recognize it as being irrational, this fear can actually gain a grip on our minds and hearts and hold us back and keep us from accomplishing our goals and achieving our God-given success.
Perhaps you have lived with this type of debilitating fear all your life and you think it‘s too late to conquer it. On the contrary. It is never too late. I myself am approaching 70 and am just now learning to apply these principles, and if I can do it you can too. So, let's take a closer look at what we can do when these fears come. Most of us tend to run and hide, but this is not the solution. In Think Like A Winner, Dr. Peal says "Do not run away from your fears. Decide to face them. When someone stands up to something, that something tends to fold. It is far better to face your fears head-on."3 By running, we create a pattern and a habit. We feel we have avoided the fear for the moment, but it inevitably returns, causing us to think we will never be able to conquer it. The enemy of our soul may whisper in our ear that it is too late--that we will just have to live with fear all our lives. We must recognize that for the lie that it is. Once we stop running and decide to face our fears, we are on the road to conquering them.
First, let's identify the objects of our fears. What are you afraid of? Let’s start with the biggie right off—the fear of death. Many people are afraid to die. Some become so bound by this fear that it effects the way they live. But, let me tell you, you absolutely need not fear death. In fact, according to Hebrews 2: 14-5 that’s one of the reasons Jesus came and died: to “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” So, once we trust Him as our Savior, we need no longer be bound by this fear. But there are other fears which may still plague us.
Some of us are afraid of people. The Bible has an antidote for this fear. I John 4:18 says "Perfect love casts out fear." So, learn to love those who you fear. Get to know them and find out how you can help them. What deed of kindness can you do for them? How can you pray for them? If you concentrate on these things it leaves no place for fear.
Then, there is the fear of failure. We become afraid to try something new. We "freeze up." And often our fear of failure, if allowed to grow, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Job found that out. He says in Job 3:25, "The thing which I greatly feared has come upon me." If we do fail, as we saw in our last chapter, we can definitely learn from our failures. Then, as Dr. Peale points out in his book, Think Like A Winner, "Don't ever think that you will always fail. Think about the success that will come from your new wisdom. It's great to win over this fear of failing. It sets you free to try new things." He then lists the following 7 things to do: plan, learn, think, study, work, believe and pray. "Then," he says, "You will have all you need to beat this fear."3 Quoting further from the end of his chapter on fear of failure, he says,
Don't wait to be sure of success, because you never will be. If you want to be safe, you will wait and wait. You will not climb mountains. You will not win races. You will not become truly happy... So don't be afraid to be afraid. Be honest. Admit your fear. But then, act as if you were not afraid. With the help of God, go on. Do your job. Don't let fear stop you.3
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QUOTABLE QUOTES:
1) "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."
---Eddie Rickenbacker
2) "Never take the advice of your fears."
---Stonewall Jackson
3) "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
---Tara Morice as Fran, from "Strictly Ballroom"
4) "No matter how hard you work for success, if your thought is saturated with the fear of failure, it will kill your efforts, neutralize your endeavor, and make success impossible."
---Baudjuin
5) "Fear does not have any special power unless you empower it by submitting to it."
---Les Brown
6) "The 1st thing a man should do is get rid of fear... a man is a slave until gets fear under his feet."
---Thomas Carlyle
7) "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
---F.D.R.
8) "Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
---Marie Curie, Physicist
9) "If fear is cultivated, it will become stronger. If faith is cultivated, it will achieve mastery."
---John Paul Jones
10) "Attitude, humor, and action (persistence) will whip fears and rejection. Fear of failure doesn't exist, if you believe it doesn't."
---Jeffrey Gitomer
11) "You do not need to be haunted by fear. Your religion can help you. It acts as a medicine, releasing power in your mind, the power of faith, which drives fear away."
---Norman Vincent Peal
12) "Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount."
---Clare Boothe Luce
13) "Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."
---John Henry Cardinal Newman
14) "Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life."
---Bertolt Brecht
15) "God's faithfulness and truth will protect and defend us."
--David (Psalms 91:4)
16) "Only be strong and courageous..."
---God to Joshua (Joshua 1:6)
17) "Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
---Jesus (Matt 10:28)
18) “ …that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
----Hebrews 2:14-15
19) "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
---Paul (1Corinthians 15:55)
20)"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you."
---God (Isaiah43:2)
21) "I cried unto Him and He answered me and freed me from all my fears."
---David (Psalm 34:4)
22) "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
---Paul (II Timothy 1:7)
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1 Of Such Is The Kingdom, P.7
2 Peale, Norman Vincent, A Guide To Confident Living, (1948, Ballantine books), 105
3 Peale, Think Like A Winner, (1990, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.), 16, 22, 24